Participation Rate

Well, I didn't coach at a small school but I ran at a small high school and it was close to what you described. My freshman year we had about 15 guys and 15 girls. The guys weren't very good I think a senior ran 10:30 for 3200m and there was one kind of fast girl that ran like 5:10 for 1600m. The next year we had a couple more people but not much but the times were worse. My junior year we had barely anyone. But my senior year a bunch of kids in my class decided to do it as a joke, so we had a pretty big team but of course the times were awful except for a couple people. I'm from PA and our team never even came close to making a state meet and our school was pretty much irrelevant when it came to postseason races (and they still are). However, my coach (and a bunch of other people) transformed me from a 15 min 3200m guy to a 10:12 guy by my senior year. I was never really concerned with my team's performance but my High School coach changed my life. he wasn't the best coach, but he gave me the opportunity to appreciate running. If I were you, I would focus on helping the kids rather than the team. Do you see what I mean?

Yes, definitely see what you mean. Told myself whether there is 3 or 30 I'm going to give them my best effort.

I had 3 kids at practice this morning and had a great time with them. We should have all 7 next week.

Rainfall is referred to as PRECIPITATION rate not PARTICIPATION rate. You, my friend are a moran!

Did you follow up with the runners from last year who did not return?

Walk the halls and encourage kids to come out for XC.

Get the kids to talk to their friends.

Coach those 7 kids as best you can and remember sports is supposed to be FUN!

Yes, I sent out a number of e-mails and asked the ones who returned to contact their friends. I talked to the swim coach and asked the AD to get in touch with the wrestling coach.

I'm not a teacher, but my assistant teaches and will be heading to freshmen orientation with our 3 girl runners in tow.

I think once the season starts I'll be more settled. I started coaching the mid-distance kids in the spring. I only had 5 kids, but they all did well and I had a great time - which I jumped at the XC position when the AD asked me.

Thanks for your time and encouragement.

Tell your kids to find one other person to join the team. Go recruit in gym class. And go recruit all the kids that didn't make the fall sport they tried out for (especially soccer).

And don't forget to emphasize that it's a coed sport...

Luv2Run wrote:

Did you follow up with the runners from last year who did not return?

Walk the halls and encourage kids to come out for XC.

Get the kids to talk to their friends.

Coach those 7 kids as best you can and remember sports is supposed to be FUN!

This is a good start. In 1999 I started the program at Hughson. We mostly had stoners who decided to come out because it wasn't football and it was a rebel thing to do. I had 2 boys that had run track for me as freshmen the previous year (my first at the school). One of those two boys ended up being my first state meet qualifier the following year.

The first year we had maybe 14 kids total

The next year we had over 20

The next year was mid to high 20s.

The following year, my boys made state as a team for the first time, participation still in the mid 20s

The following year, my boys won our section meet, participation in the low 30s

The following year we had a huge turnout, over 60 sign ups, most didn't stick. I didn't know how to deal with such a large group and had no assistant.

We bounced around in the high 20s to low 30s with decent success on the boys side for another decade getting a couple of more state meet berths

In 2013 our school started following the guidelines laid out by "Life of an Athlete / Human Performance Project" This has absolutely been great for our team and has been especially good at bringing girls into the program. I've been lucky to have some great athlete leaders. Cross Country has almost become a cool thing to do at our school.

I will have probably 60 kids on the team this year (about 10% of the student body). Both of my varsity teams will likely vie for a league title and be very successful at our section meet. Our girls have a pretty good shot at the state meet this year, which would be our 3rd trip in 4 years.

So, I guess the solution is stick with it. Build team culture while you build athletic performance.

It took me a really long time to figure out how to actually build a team culture, but that has made all the difference.

Have both short term and long term plans. You’ve had some great suggestions above for short(er) term actions you can take. I would also consider reaching out to other coaches - my younger brother’s XC team was always a mix of serious runners, and a handful of basketball players, lacrosse players, rowers and wrestlers. For kids who need conditioning/to stay in shape and prefer a team activity, group runs can be appealing (one of his friends - a wrestler - would joke he just came for the post-run popsicles. Whatever it takes!).

For the long term: most popular sports start with rec leagues in early elementary school, and many kids are involved because there was a community culture around that sport and their parents pushed it. One of the more successful running programs in our area started building a similar approach probably 20 years ago or so - school-break camps, summer clinics, a family running program on Saturdays that welcomed all ages and levels, themed fun runs throughout the year (Reindeer Race, Bunny Hop, Spooky Run, etc). I have been told that they’ve basically created a farm system and built community interest and support in running, and have seen this pay off.

It's better to have 3 kids that care than 30 kids that don't.

Really good stuff, thank you and congratulations. It's inspirational.

Another county school has a Middle School XC meet each year. I've offered our team (all 7 of them, plus 2 coaches) to help out and spread the word in our community. Some of the middle schools have running clubs (we have 5 feeders schools). I've corresponded with those coaches too. Soccer seems to take most of these runners, but every once in a while one joins XC.

I think you have some good suggestions already: PE teachers make an announcement, other coaches who will cut players to make an announcement, get current runners to talk to their friends, contact runners from last year's XC and track teams about returning, contact the middle schools who feed into your HS.

Do your best to recruit, and then give the kids who are on the team the best experience you can give them, and make sure they have a fun, positive experience and build off that. With a smaller team, you may be able to travel to more fun meets, buy cool shirts, etc.